<p>Climate concern is not the problem. Most people have it. What's missing is everything that turns concern into action - and understanding that gap turns out to be a lot more complicated than it looks.</p><p>This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson sit down with<a href="https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/lorraine-whitmarsh" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Lorraine Whitmarsh</a>, Professor of Environmental Psychology and Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations at the University of Bath.&nbsp;</p><p>Together they dig into the psychology behind catastrophe apathy: why understanding an existential threat doesn't always lead to action, and what the research says actually moves people.</p><p>Lorraine shares real-world evidence - including renewable energy tariffs that shifted 90% of customers onto green power simply by making it the default - and explains why trusted everyday messengers, from hairdressers to taxi drivers, employers to community figures, often have more influence than expert voices in reshaping what feels normal.</p><p>The conversation also revisits an uncomfortable history: how the personal carbon footprint, popularised by BP in the early 2000s, reframed climate responsibility around individual choices rather than systemic change. A framing so powerful that even environmental organisations adopted it. Who benefited most from that shift is a question the movement is still grappling with.</p><br><p>If systemic change requires public consent, and public consent requires political will, and political will requires behaviour change - how do you break the climate Catch-22?</p><br><p><br></p><p>With thanks to the University of Bath.</p><br><p>Learn More:</p><p>🧠 Explore<a href="https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/lorraine-whitmarsh" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Lorraine Whitmarsh's research</a> at the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations, University of Bath</p><p>🔌 Read about the<a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1254566" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Swiss renewable energy default study</a> — the experiment that moved 90% of customers to green energy by changing a default setting</p><p>🗳️ Learn more about<a href="https://www.climateassembly.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> citizens' assemblies on climate</a> and deliberative democracy in practice</p><p>🌍 Read the IPCC's work on<a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/chapter/chapter-5/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> demand-side solutions and behavioural change</a> in its Sixth Assessment Report</p><br><p><br></p><p>🎤 Leave us your voice notes and questions for upcoming episodes on<a href="https://www.speakpipe.com/OutrageandOptimism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> SpeakPipe</a></p><br><p>Join the conversation:</p><p>Instagram<a href="https://www.instagram.com/outrageoptimism/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> @outrageoptimism</a> LinkedIn<a href="https://uk.linkedin.com/company/outrageoptimism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> @outrageoptimism</a></p><p>Or get in touch with us<a href="https://www.globaloptimism.com/contact?hsLang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> via this form</a>.</p><br><p>Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks</p><p>Edited by Miles Martignoni</p><p>Planning: Caitlin Hanrahan</p><p>Exec Producer: Ellie Clifford</p><br><p>This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.</p><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>